New Delhi, 07 November (H.S.): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested T. M. Sudhakar, Assistant Director and Officer-in-Charge of the Plant Quarantine Station (PQS) in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, along with another individual in connection with an alleged Rs. 1 lakh bribery case. The accused allegedly demanded the amount in exchange for clearing containers belonging to a private firm.

According to the CBI, the agency had registered a case on Friday against two officials of the Plant Quarantine Station, three other individuals and certain unidentified persons. The case was registered following allegations that T. M. Sudhakar, Assistant Director and Officer-in-Charge of the PQS in Visakhapatnam, had demanded a bribe of Rs. 1 lakh for granting clearance to containers belonging to a private company.

Acting on a complaint, the CBI laid a trap on Friday and caught the Assistant Director red-handed while allegedly accepting the bribe of Rs. 1 lakh from a private individual. The agency also recovered the entire bribe amount. The private individual, identified as Sunkavalli Satyanarayana, was arrested along with Sudhakar.

The CBI also conducted searches at premises linked to the accused in Visakhapatnam, Faridabad and Thimmanapalli village in Karnataka's Kolar district. During the searches, investigators collected documents and other evidence relevant to the case.

Both arrested accused were produced before a competent court in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

The CBI said that the investigation is ongoing and that it is examining other aspects of the alleged bribery network to identify further links and possible involvement of additional individuals.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar